


Love in the Time of Dragon Flu

by SailorPortia



Series: Dianakko Week 2020 [5]
Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Dianakko Week 2020, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Look coming up with titles is hard sometimes, Not that humorous this time around, Repressed Feelings, Sickfic, There isn't that much love in the fic, but I'm a sucker for a pun title, they're both very awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:22:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26273302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorPortia/pseuds/SailorPortia
Summary: Akko unexpectedly catches a magical disease that leaves her miserable and bedridden. Good thing that Luna Nova's star student and medical magic prodigy, Diana, has recommended to be her nurse. She's being weirdly nice, but there's nothing deeper to it, right?
Relationships: Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari
Series: Dianakko Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899667
Comments: 20
Kudos: 232





	Love in the Time of Dragon Flu

There was an unforeseen problem of Luna Nova Academy admitting students from non-magical families. Not one that couldn't have been anticipated, had the faculty given it enough thought, but one that had been overlooked out of a lack of understanding of non-magical families.

Akko had just as much a right to be at Luna Nova as anyone else, but what she didn't have was her witching world vaccinations.

Children from witch families received inoculations for common diseases that affected those with activated magical energy, as well as illnesses which could be transferred from various magical creatures. It was just so casually assumed that every student who comes to Luna Nova has been vaccinated that the faculty never stopped to consider that Akko was the exception to that rule.

In fact, Akko wasn't even aware of magical illnesses until she caught one of them herself.

She woke up one morning plagued with dull aches and pains all over her body and a feverish heat.

"Sucy... what did you do to me?"

The potion mistress raised an eyebrow. "I haven't slipped a potion into your food for at least two weeks."

"What's wrong, Akko?" Lotte asked.

"Body hurty," Akko groaned. She tried to move, but her jokes screamed at her in protest, so she flopped back down on her mattress. "I don't think I can get out of bed."

Lotte made a sympathetic noise. "Did you do anything that would explain this? Did you get into any accidents lately?"

"Did you eat something you found on the ground?" Sucy cackled.

"Of course not! This came out of nowhere! There isn't anything I—" Akko cut herself off suddenly.

"You...?"

"I..."

"Spit it out already."

"I... ACHOO!"

Akko sneezed, which would have been rather unremarkable if not for the fact she spewed fire rather than saliva. She screamed when she opened her eyes again post-sneeze and realized she'd set the bottom of Lotte's bunk on fire.

Lotte quickly put the flames out with a spell. "What was that!?"

"Yeah, it was cool as hell," Sucy said. "Have you been holding out on revealing your hidden talents?"

"No! People aren't supposed to breathe fire!"

"I thought it might be a non-witch thing."

"What do you think people from non-magical families are?"

Lotte stepped between them. "Girls, please. We need to figure out what's wrong with Akko."

Alas, they couldn't on their own. With Sucy's knowledge, they ruled out poison or potions, and a quick inspection of Akko revealed that she wasn't bruised or otherwise injured. They opted to defer to authority. Lotte left to find a professor, and Sucy stayed with Akko, wand at the ready, just in case the invalid sneezed up another inferno.

After a few minutes, Lotte returned with Professor Ursula and Diana.

Akko blanched. Her rival was the last person she wanted to see her like this. "What's she doing here?"

"I overheard your roommates and I came to offer my assistance," Diana replied. "As you know, my family specializes in healing magic."

"Diana kindly offered to help," Ursula confirmed. "Healing magic isn't my forte, so bringing her seemed like a good idea."

Akko couldn't argue with that logic—partially because she didn't have the energy. She would have to entrust her health in Diana's hands. Diana's soft, delicate hands...

The source of Akko's discomfort was quickly discovered. Diana checked her symptoms, touching her joints and gauging her temperature.

"I have a diagnosis," Diana said. "It appears that Akko has caught dragon flu."

"There's no way that's real," Akko said, but everyone else in the room grimaced in response to Diana's declaration.

"I suspected as much, but I hoped I was wrong," Ursula said. "Dragon flu used to be a common witch disease, but you don't really see cases of it anymore."

Lotte gasped. "Akko wouldn't have been vaccinated for dragon flu!"

"Vaccinations are important," Sucy said looking at the fourth wall of the Red Team's dorm room.

"Where would I catch dragon flu from?" Akko asked, rubbing her nose. "I haven't seen a dragon since we confronted Mr. Fafnir. Well, there was that one little dragon in the familiar in the aviary, but there's no way..." She trailed off when everyone else sighed. "So what's the deal with dragon flu anyway?"

"It's not deadly," Diana said. "Symptoms of dragon flu include muscle and joint pain, headaches, fever, coughing, and of course sneezing fire."

_Achoo!_

"Exactly." Diana put out the flames without missing a beat. "You should recover in a few days, if not tomorrow, as long as you rest."

"I can mix up a potion that will get rid of the flame breath, but it won't be ready until the evening," Sucy said.

"Sucy! You really do care about me!" If she could have, Akko would have hugged her.

"If I didn't care about you, I would have properly poisoned you months ago."

"Now that we've figured out what's wrong with Akko, you girls should get ready for class," Ursula said. "Oh, somebody should stay with Akko though."

Akko grabbed Ursula's sleeve. "Will you stay with me?"

Ursula was visibly conflicted. Her professional responsibilities won over her maternal instincts. "If I didn't have to teach today, I would."

"I volunteer to nurse Akko back to health," Diana said, raising her hand.

"Eh!? Why?"

"Not only would my healing magic make me the best match, I can afford to miss a day or two of classes," Diana said. "Someone needs to take care of you. Why shouldn't it be me?"

Akko's face grew hotter, and she blamed it on her fever. "I guess it can't be helped. But don't think this means I owe you anything."

"Of course not. It's my pleasure to help you."

With that matter settled, Ursula, Lotte, and Sucy left before classes began without them. Diana pulled out a chair from the desk and sat down at Akko's bedside.

Akko tried to roll on her side to face away from her nurse, but found the effort too uncomfortable. _How am I supposed to rest with Diana around?_

The first thing Diana did was perform a damping ward to reduce the amount of destruction that could be caused by Akko's fire breath. Next, she performed a cooling spell on a towel and laid it on Akko's forehead to soothe her fever.

"Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?" Diana asked. "Whatever it is, don't hesitate to ask."

"Um, could you adjust my pillow?" It wasn't really bothering Akko that much, but she was curious if Diana would really do anything.

Diana smiled and moved the pillow for Akko until she was satisfied.

"Is there anything else you need?" Diana asked when Akko was settled in. "I could use some spells to alleviate pain if you'd like."

"Really?" If Akko had known about that, she would've asked her all those times she fell off her broom. "And here I thought the best I could get was someone kissing it better."

Diana pursed her lips. "I'm afraid that's not a service I can offer as your nurse."

"I w-wasn't asking for it!" Akko spluttered. "Uh, can I have one of those no pain spells, please?"

Diana relaxed again. "Certainly." With a wave of her wand, the pain faded from dull aches faded into minor twinges. "Numbing spells like this aren't advisable for everyday use. Pain is your body's way of telling you something is damaging your body, but these spells are fine for patients who are bedridden."

"Like how you might bite your tongue real hard when your gums are frozen at the dentist's," Akko said.

"Right." Diana nodded, but Akko wasn't entirely sure if the witch knew what a dentist was. It might have been Anglophobic to ask.

"Anyway, I feel a lot better. Thanks."

"I'm glad I can help you," Diana said softly.

There was such tenderness in her expression that Akko felt inordinately self-conscious. Where did all this sugary sweetness come from? What happened to the stuck-up bossypants from when Akko started attending Luna Nova? Akko hadn't seen this kind of warmth from Diana for months, since the Noir Missile Crisis and the Ursula & Croix drama that preceded it.

 _If you keep being this nice to me I might fall for you,_ Akko thought. _It's not fair to take advantage of a sick girl like that..._

Akko dozed off without realizing it. When she awoke, Diana had a bowl of porridge resting in her lap.

"Is that for me?" Akko asked. "I'm not hungry though..." she said when Diana answered her question with a nod.

"You should eat anyway, even if you don't have an appetite. Your body will thank you later."

"Okay. You must be really enjoying bossing me around, huh?"

"Not particularly," Diana said as she spooned up some porridge. "I'll be happy when you're well again." She held out the spoon for Akko.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"Feeding you, of course."

"I can feed myself!" What kind of anime romcom setup was this? Akko wasn't going to give into it!

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Can you? Even if your joints weren't aching, I would insist on feeding you myself regardless. You need to rest, Akko."

"Fine." Akko opened her mouth and allowed herself to be fed like a love interest in a trope-heavy anime. So much for her resistance.

With delicate precision, Diana fed Akko spoonful after spoonful of porridge without dropping so much as a morsel. The sheer amount of care put into the simple service flustered Akko. She was thankful, but wasn't this a bit much?

"Thanks," Akko said after swallowing the final spoonful. "You didn't need to do all that."

"I didn't need to, but I wanted to," Diana replied.

Akko narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "You're being weirdly nice."

"It's called bedside manner," Diana replied. "Would you prefer I act more callously?"

"Of course not." Akko pouted. She didn't get Diana at all.

Akko wasn't sure if she was getting better yet, but she did _feel_ better. The main problem was the boredom. She couldn't read a book due to the risk of burning it up with her fiery sneezes, and she refused to let Diana read anything to her ("I'm not a kid, you know!"). Even if she weren't feeling awkward about Diana being her attendant nurse, she couldn't talk with her for long without aggravating her throat. Since she was in bed anyway, she tried to catch as much sleep as she could.

Her friends visited during lunch and brought her and Diana some food. Jasminka volunteered to feed Akko, who happily accepted. Diana seemed like she wanted to comment on her patient's compliance with being fed by someone else, but instead she chewed her own food with extreme prejudice.

Akko fell asleep again soon after her friends left for their afternoon classes. She woke up covered in sweat after a brief but haunting dream about being chased by a dragon, among other things.

"Bluh," Akko said when she opened her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Diana asked, leaning forward with concern written all over her face.

"I had a fever dream about a giant Diana spoon-feeding me to a dragon."

"Oh my. Dreams can be rather troubling, can't they? Once I had a dream about you in which..." Diana trailed off. "Anyway, how are you feeling?"

"Not great." Akko sighed heavily, as if she could breathe out her fever if she tried hard enough. "It's really hot..."

"I can fix that for you." Diana took out her wand and began casting a cooling spell. The cold towel on her forehead was a relief, but it simply didn't compare to the power of Diana's magic.

"Thank you, Diana. This fever really sucks." 

"It needs to get worse before it can get better," Diana said.

"Like us," Akko said, giggling slightly. "Remember when you were really mean to me?"

"I don't think I was being mean, per se," Diana prickled.

"Meany pants Diana..."

Akko reached out and grabbed Diana's hand. "I'm really glad you're here with me now."

Diana smiled and gave Akko's hand a squeeze. "I'm glad I could be here for you. Not just as a nurse, but as a... friend."

Akko giggled and dozed off again before she could come up with a response.

Her dreams weren't as frightening as the nightmare about the dragon. They left little impression on her as she drifted in and out of consciousness. The only constant was that Diana stayed at her side, even in her dreams, like the one about Diana kissing her forehead while she changed the cool towels. At some point she might have drank that potion Sucy promised her, but she wasn't sure.

Eventually Akko woke up properly and sat up in her bed, bleary-eyed, her joints whispering at her rather than screaming in pain. Her fever had practically disappeared. She looked around and saw, not just Diana still sitting at her side, but Lotte and Sucy had returned to the dorm as well. Judging by the darkness outside the window, Akko had been asleep for quite a while.

"I feel much better," she said, yawning.

"That's wonderful," Lotte said.

"Darn right you do," Sucy said. "I'd hate to have to find a new guinea pig."

"Haha, very funny." Akko rolled her eyes. "Are you hearing this, Diana?"

Diana didn't answer. She was nodding off in her seat. How very Diana-like to sleep sitting up.

"Hey, you." Akko grabbed Diana's hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. "A proper witch doesn't sleep in a place like this, or something."

Diana opened her eyes, blinking profusely. She looked uncharacteristically disoriented, which Akko found oddly cute. "Apologies. I must have closed my eyes a little too long."

"Don't apologize, silly. Thanks for taking care of me all day."

"It was my pleasure, Akko." She gently stroked her thumbs over Akko's hands.

Sucy groaned. "If you're well enough to flirt, take it outside. Your cooties are going to disturb the potion I have simmering."

Akko spluttered, quickly letting go of Diana. "We're not flirting!"

Diana cleared her throat. "Indeed. I am simply fulfilling my duties as Akko's nurse."

"Was that what you were doing when we walked in on you smooching Akko's forehead?"

Lotte sighed dreamily. "It was so sweet. We weren't supposed to tell though..."

Akko's feverish heat came back in an instant. "Wait, that actually happened? I thought that was a dream!"

"I was testing an experimental medical treatment." Diana stood up quickly, her face glowing pleasantly pink. "If my services are no longer needed, I'll be on my way."

"But what if Akko needs another kiss?" Lotte asked.

Sucy gagged. "If I have to see any more of that, I'll be the one needing medical attention."

"Good night to you all," Diana said, pointedly refusing to address their comments. She looked over her shoulder, not quite meeting Akko's eyes. "Make sure you get some proper rest, Akko." With that, she was gone. She closed the door a little too loudly.

Akko touched her forehead tentatively, and her heart skipped a beat. She _really_ didn't understand Diana. Butterflies fluttered around her stomach as she thought about how to thank her.


End file.
